Persona: A Less-Than Cinematic Tale (Starring Hikari of PQ2)

While Gullveig was always there, taking notes on the world around her, it wasn't very often than Hikari heard her voice.

"Down there?" She found herself whispering in the direction of the tunnel. "Has something changed there?"

There wasn't an answer of course. When not imposed upon reality, Gullveig was as quiet as Hikari herself. But that was fine. She knew where this was going already.

She took a deep breath, silently chided herself for being so nervous, and stepped into another world.

---

Shinjiro and Ribbon met her at the crossroads. "Do you feel it, too?" The little robot asked. "There's... something different, happening right now."

Hikari nodded. "I could feel it before I even came here. It..." She turned to the road that did not lead to the cinema, the one that she had yet to walk. "I think it's coming from this direction."

"I'm gonna have to take both your words for it..." Shinjiro sighed. "I don't feel anything like that. Just... there's a whole lot of Shadows around."

Hikari had noticed this, as well, though she also knew they wouldn't attack them as long as they stayed on the main road. Like the cinema entrance, it was a safe space, only to be threatened by Shadows that were invited in. "So... we just follow this path, then." Sure, it was late enough that it might not have been the best idea to embark on a massive adventure like this, but... it was a feeling she got. That she had to go this way. "Would the two of you be all right, if something happens?"

"I've got Castor, it'll be fine." Shinjiro didn't sound entirely sure of that, but Hikari let him be for the time being.

"If any Shadows engage in combat with us, I can activate my Orgia Mode," Ribbon added. "It would be dangerous for me to use it for too long, though. I only ever use it as a last resort, really..."

Hikari couldn't help but think that, in a perfect world, most teams would be more than just this. "Let's... hope we don't run into any Shadows, then."

[ ] "I hope you're right,"

[ ] "I'm sure we won't!"

[ ] "You can lead us away from them, right?"

Ribbon responded. At the very least, Hikari could say she didn't find her words discouraging.

The sad thing was, this was still a visible improvement from a lot of her prior friendships.

---

Where before, the path had vanished into nothing past a certain point, here it led up to what appeared to be a large building, of some sort. Hikari could smell fresh paint, as though said building had only been constructed recently, though there were already flowers growing up the side.

"What is this place?" Shinjiro asked. "I know there's probably Shadows in it, but..."

Hikari summoned Gullveig, taking a look at the structure. "I'm... not sure. But it looks like there's four entrances, one on each side, leading to four connected sections, and a fifth in the center, but I can't get anything about that fifth area." Gullveig just kept showing her a blank screen. "I think I'd have to be closer to it, in order to find out more."

"By which you mean going into a place filled with Shadows." Shinjiro sounded less than impressed. It was hard to blame him.

Ribbon stared pensively at the door within sight of their vision. "Do you think maybe this place could help me get home?" It was hard to respond. Realistically, no, it wouldn't, but it wasn't like this world operated on anything resembling realism. Shinjiro had even said that it was supposed to be some kind of dream!

"I... don't know," She admitted. "I haven't noticed anything like that, but there's still that fifth area..." Still something that even her current powers couldn't let her see.

Shinjiro sighed. "Guess all we can do is go in and find out."

That was true. But with four entrances, each leading somewhere different, they needed to think about how to make their entrance. The three of them circled around, taking note of each door, before eventually deciding to take...


[ ] The north entrance, a door marked with a lightbulb.

[ ] The south entrance, a door marked with a heart.

[ ] The east entrance, a door marked with a musical note.

[ ] The west entrance, a door marked with a gear.

A world that slumbers beneath Kusoka, Phantasmagoria is filled with Shadows, and must be explored to progress the story. There are two parts of Phantasmagoria- Story Dungeons, and Hikari's Dreamscape.

---

As time goes on, new locations will become available in Phantasmagoria. These locations must be completed as quickly as possible, as there is always a deadline attached. However, if a location is fully explored, there are rewards for doing so.

Some Story Dungeons may not be fully explored before their deadlines, but until a certain point in the story is reached, they may be revisited after completion, though the usefulness of the rewards gained for doing so may no longer be worth it past a given point.

Story Dungeons will, generally, contain Shadows of up to three Arcana, though some have fewer. They also only have one mandatory boss fight attached, though later ones may have... additional encounters.

---

Easily the largest accessible location in Phantasmagoria, exploration of Hikari's Dreamscape can provide power ups for various party members, progression in the story, and an altogether wider range of options as progress is made. This Dreamscape is even less linear than the others, though progress in certain areas can be gated off by lack of progress in other areas, or not having the right party member yet.

There are multiple bosses contained within this dreamscape, and various... additional encounters, that can be triggered or avoided based on player decisions. Shadows of every kind can appear here.

Hikari's Dreamscape is inaccessible while there is a Story Dungeon awaiting completion. Full exploration of Hikari's Dreamscape is highly unlikely- it's uncertain if it's even possible- but there are definitely powerful rewards for those who would attempt to do so.

---

Progression in Phantasmagoria is divided into sections. Exploring a given section takes up one time period, and multiple time periods in a day may be devoted to exploration, as many as there is time free. As actions taken after leaving Phantasmagoria carry penalties, it is recommended that exploration that starts earlier on in the day carry on through evening, though only one dreamscape may be visited in a day.

Each section has a particular goal that must be completed to clear it, whether it's the party defeating a certain number of Shadows, or solving a given number of puzzles, or simply managing to traverse the hostile terrain filled with... additional encounters. Depending in the approach taken for going about this, the exact results may change.

In general, to complete an area, not every section will have to be cleared, though, of course, there are rewards for if it happens. If there isn't enough time before a deadline, these locations can generally be revisited, up to a certain point.

---

If Phantasmagoria is visited for more than two full days in a row, your party members will Not be Happy with you. They will also start complaining after five days of visits that don't take up the full day.

Be good to Hikari's friends. They're probably the only thing keeping her from dying.

The door they chose to enter was the one on the western side of the building. There were less plants on this side of the building than the others, the ones that were there being dried out, thick spiderwebs stretching between them and the wall. It was a side that seemed abandoned.

"It's odd," Ribbon commented, almost poking at the thick webbing, before apparently thinking better of it and taking a step back. "You'd think that this whole building would be taken care of, not just three parts of it." Possibly four. Hikari still couldn't get any information about the center area, so it was impossible to be sure.

"Means there might not be anyone around, though," Shinjiro pointed out. "...Course, that might just be cause the Shadows ate them all, but..."

Hikari didn't want to think about that possibility. Hikari wanted her mind to stay as far away from that possibility as it ever could. "I... guess we won't know unless we go inside, though..."

The door wasn't locked. The door wasn't stuck to itself by spiderwebs, though it was easy to get the feeling that it really wanted to be. The three of them shuffled through, one at a time, Ribbon insisting on taking the lead because of her night vision.

It wasn't needed. The area they entered into was well-lit, though that was the only simple thing about it.

This section of the building they found was a maze. Well... sort of.

The path to the center, from this door, was simple. They could just walk right through, and they'd be at the entrance to the center section. That much, at least, was simple.

The problem was, the entrance to the second section wasn't visible. There appeared to be some sort of metallic barrier blocking it, lowered by a set of mechanisms. There was a button on the wall nearby, which would presumably work to activate them. Exactly how it worked was hard to see, as the various parts of it were all covered in spiderwebs. Whatever it was, it appeared to involve the walls nearby, and those of the maze, which were filled with various gears, also covered in spiderwebs.

Nothing in the area was moving at all, though if Hikari summoned Gullveig, she was sure she'd uncover the location of a large number of Shadows.

Still... for the moment, everything was silent. Which gave Hikari room to think about what to do next.


[ ] She'd scan the maze, to try and get an idea of the layout.

[ ] She would ask at least one of her friends to enter the maze, and support them from outside.
-[ ] Shinjiro.
-[ ] Ribbon.
-[ ] Both.

[ ] She'd press the button, and activate the mechanism.

[ ] She would try and get a closer look at something in the area.
-[ ] The barrier.
-[ ] The gears.
-[ ] The spiderwebs.